Episode 1189: Season Preview Series: Giants and Athletics
Date March 14, 2018 Summary On a Bay Area edition of EW’s season-preview series, Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the resolution of their free-agent-contracts draft, the Lance Lynn, Neil Walker, and Jake Arrieta signings, the offseason market in review, and a Stephen Hawking baseball connection, then preview the 2018 Giants (32:07) with SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee, and the 2018 Athletics (1:07:20) with the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. Topics * San Francisco Giants preview with Grant Brisbee * Giants hitting fewer home runs * Giants unable to acquire Giancarlo Stanton * Luxury tax * Giants roster age * Brandon Belts health? * What does Hunter Pence have left? * Is Austin Jackson an everyday guy? * Is there worry about Madison Bumgarner? * Any optimism for Johnny Cueto or Brandon Crawford? * The Giants rotation behind Madison Bumgarner * Chris Stratton * The Giants bullpen * Oakland Athletics preview with Susan Slusser * Why are there so few international players on the team? * What does Jonathan Lucroy signing mean to the A’s? * Are the A’s still a team that has an edge, analytically, on other teams? * The A’s pitching rotation * What is the outlook on the A’s position players? * What was the team's response to the revenue sharing grievance by the MLBPA and how is the phasing out of the revenue sharing dollars affecting the spending? * A’s stadium problem update and is it affecting getting players to come play? * What is Franklin Barreto's outlook? * Have you ever encountered a “yips” case like Khris Davis? * Have the A’s not completely bottomed out on purpose, and why or why not? * Why did the A’s sign so many fly ball relievers? * Is Stephen Piscotty able to focus on baseball? * What does Dustin Fowler look like, how is injury rehab going? * The feelings of A’s fans towards recent moves Intro The Breeders, "Spacewoman" Interstitials Marbles, "Grant Me the Day" The Jayhawks, "Black-Eyed Susan" Outro Metronomy, "The Bay" Banter * Free agent contract contest and the various things that contributed to the down market. * Lance Lynn contract and how it affects the Twins rotation. * Neil Walker contract and why the Yankees signed him. * Jake Arrieta signed a team friendly contract with the Phillies. * Middle class free agents and how they were hit hardest this past off-season (unless they are a reliever). * Stephen Hawking’s death and connection to baseball. Notes * Lance Lynn had 58 strikeouts and 54 walks last year. * Grant predicted the Giants win 84 games. * Susan predicted the A’s win 81 games. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1189: Season Preview Series: Giants and Athletics * Why Baseball Games Are So Damned Long by Grant Brisbee * Effective Wild Competitions and Drafts * Yankees Rescue Neil Walker from Value Bin by Travis Sawchik * 2018 Season Preview Series Index by Banished to the Pen Category:Episodes Category:Guest Episodes